I think that society is not responsible for what happened in book one, because Bigger was trying to protect himself and his job. He didn't intend on killing Mary. He was scared to lose his job and was afraid Mary would tell on him, even though she was passed out and wouldn't remember anything because she was completely drunk. So, I think that society is not responsible because Bigger could have just told Mrs. and Mr. Dalton the truth about Mary, but he wanted to keep his job. Also, agreeing with Matt G. society did push Bigger to become violent because of racism, but him killing Mary was not because of racism and violence it was an accident because they were both drunk and he was trying to make her quiet so Mrs. Dalton wouldn't find out that she was drunk and he was taking care of her because Mary had asked Bigger to not tell her parents. Mary's death was unintentional and not society's fault, the blame is on Bigger himself. Society made him violent, but did not make him kill Mary.
-Emily Raymond